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Blast Off Into Space (LiS episode)
Last week, as you recall, our space family's lost planet was rocked by a series of savage earthquakes. Little did they dream that in less than twenty desperate hours, a cataclysmic explosion would rip apart the planet's core, and disintegrate their entire world - into galactic dust... Summary While in the process of refining deutronium fuel so they can finally leave Preplanis, the Robinsons experience terrible planet quakes. John theorizes that the planet has only hours until it disintegrates into "cosmic dust". While at the deutronium drill site, Will, Dr. Smith and the Robot meet a grizzled prospector who calls himself Nerim (anagram of "miner"). He explains to them that the quakes they have been feeling are the results of him blasting in his attempt to mine a rare substance called cosmonium. He explains that cosmonium is very precious. It is the quintessence of life itself. Nerim also says the planet can withstand his "small explosions". Smith, true to his greedy nature, decides that he must have the cosmonium for himself. Nerim assures Will and Smith that the planet is not going to disintegrate. Meanwhile, the Robinsons continue to pack. John and Don send Smith back up to the drill site to collect the drilling equipment. Smith stops to talk to Nerim, who reveals that his mule, Robur (anagram of "burro"), has damaged a thruster control to his ship and Nerim will not be able to leave. Nerim says that he would give anything for a spare thruster control. He'd even be willing to gamble his cosmonium. Returning to the ship (without the drilling equipment), Smith tells West and John Robinson that he lost his way and didn't get the equipment. While conversing with them at the astrogator, Smith pockets a thruster control he sees lying there. John sends Smith and Will back to the drill site. Back at the drill site, Smith and Will pay Nerim a visit. Smith and Nerim play a game of cards, betting the cosmonium and the thruster control. Smith has told Will that he found the control on a junk pile. Smith loses the card game and Nerim leaves, revealing that indeed the planet is going to disintegrate. Will finds a couple of flasks of cosmonium that Nerim has left behind. They exit back to the surface. Smith convinces Will to help him right the toppled statue of himself. While doing this, they accidentally break one of the flasks of cosmonium on the statue. The cosmonium causes the statue to come to life. It chases Will and Smith. They give it the other flask of cosmonium, but it wants more. John flies in on the parajet and chases the monster off with his laser. John, Will and Smith load up the Chariot and make it back to the ship in time for departure. Once lifted off, John and Don experience problems with the thrusters. Smith admits that he didn't find the thruster control on the junk pile. With the knowledge of the missing control, John and Don are able work around the problem and escape before the planet blows up. Background Information *This episode marks the first use of the new 2nd Series laser weapons that would be standard for the rest of the show, apart from a couple of deviations. *The teaser for this episode (in the last one) was shown in black and white. This is the first episode of the second season and the first color one. *The small oval devices in the Robot's headgear are working again in this episode for the first time since early in the first season. *When Smith is sent to the drill site, he asks Don for the key to the Chariot. *While boasting to Nerim, Smith claims that his uncle Thaddeus discovered the Comstock Lode all by himself. *In preparing to lift off, the family has to discard everything that is not absolutely necessary. They discard a lot of sporting equipment. *There must be a universal standard when it comes to spaceship parts. The Jupiter's thruster control apparently works perfectly on Nerim's ship! *Will mentions that they must be traveling at almost the speed of light. *Nerim is an anagram of Miner, in reference to his profession. *One wonders what happened to the underground society that was shown in the season one episode "The Lost Civilization." Presumably they were destroyed when Priplanis exploded. Links and references Cast *Guy Williams as Professor John Robinson *June Lockhart as Maureen Robinson *Mark Goddard as Don West *Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson *Billy Mumy as Will Robinson *Angela Cartwright as Penny Robinson *Jonathan Harris as Dr. Zachary Smith *Strother Martin as Nerim Uncredited Cast *Bob May as the Robot *Dick Tufeld as the Robot (voice) References clover; cosmonium; deutronium; earthquake; grass; pasture; Preplanis Links * Blast Off Into Space at the Internet Movie Database Category:Lost in Space episodes